E.ON criticised as profits soar

Energy firm E.ON has been criticised for posting good financial results, while many households were forced to pay more for gas and electricity.

The company made just under £300 million in profits last year, an increase of around 27 per cent, while consumers saw a nine per cent rise in bills.

John Robertson, on the House of Commons energy select committee, said: "They make an absolute fortune from generation in this country and in Europe and instead of paying out so much to shareholders, they should be trying to make energy affordable for some of the most vulnerable in society."

He added that Ofgem, the regulator of the energy sector, should not be fooled as E.ON will try to downplay their positive results and investigations into the industry should continue.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, urged E.ON to use this money to help out those who are struggling to pay their bills.

The latest bill increase was around 3.7 per cent, the lowest of the big six, a fact that E.ON was keen to point out as it denied trying to exploit customers.

Tony Cocker, chief executive of the company, claimed that the cold weather through the Christmas period was responsible for the profits, as well as internal cost-cutting.

He added that people in the UK will pay an additional £3 billion if the government fails to reduce a tax on fossil fuels when next week's budget is announced.

Mr Cocker also noted that his firm had installed energy-saving measures in 100,000 homes over the past 15 months.

E.ON's parent company Dusseldorf posted £7.7 billion in profits over the same period.

The big six account for 99 per cent of the UK's energy sector, while Labour has promised to freeze prices until 2017 if it is elected into power next year.

Alternatively, the current government has pledged to cut bills by £50 a year.